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Planned Giving

Three Ways to Donate Life Insurance

Your need for life insurance most likely declines with age, increasing its popularity as a charitable gift.

Let it go. An outright gift of a paid-up life insurance policy makes an excellent charitable gift. Either The Diocese, Agency, or Institution of Houma-Thibodaux will take a policy's cash value or we will retain the policy for its ultimate death benefit. You receive a current deduction amounting to the cost of replacing the policy with a single premium life insurance policy at your current age (but not more than you've invested in the policy).
Start anew. You can take out a new policy with us as owner and beneficiary. Your continuing premium payments, usually gifted directly to The Diocese, Agency, or Institution of Houma-Thibodaux, are income tax deductible.
Pay the premiums. You can also donate an existing policy and keep up the premiums. If you should lapse on the payments, The Diocese, Agency, or Institution of Houma-Thibodaux can either receive the current surrender value of the policy, buy a smaller, yet paid-up policy with the policy's cash value or possibly even continue the premium payments for the life of the insured. Group term life insurance or employer group coverage above $50,000 also make suitable gifts to charity.

Gifts of life insurance are usually deductible up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income. If necessary, you may carry over the deduction for an additional five years. For more information, please contact Jeremy Punch at 985-850-3155 or jpunch@htdiocese.org.

Click the icon to request a FREE guide to giving life insurance.

The information in this Web site is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney. Figures cited in examples are for hypothetical purposes only and are subject to change. References to income tax apply to federal taxes only. Federal estate tax, state income/estate taxes or state law may impact your results.